Machine for forming and compressing peat.



BATENTED JULY 2, 1907. R. S. LAWRENCE.

APPLIUATIONHLBD'BEPT.12.1906'. v 2 SHEETS-snm' 1.

MACHINE PoR FORMING AND GoMPREssING PRAT.

PATBNTBD JULY 2, 1907.

i n. S. LAWRENCE. V

MAGHINE Fouron/fm@ `AND coMPRBssING PSAT.

Arrmourou FILED snm'. 12. 190e. n Munn-SHEET a.

www

f :Figrfi-is an enlarged frontelevation* Inm-iEET s. LAWRENCE, orEosToN,

MASSACHUSETTS.

MACHINE FOR FORMIN G AND COMPRESSIN G HEAT.-

Nafsse'svs.'

Specification of Letters Pe tent. vApplication filed September l2, 1906.Serial No. 384.224.

Patented July 2, 1907.

o all whom. 'it may concern:

leit known that I, ROBERT S. LAWRENCE, a citizen i,

ol' the UnitedStates, residing at Boston, in the county ol Suffolk andState of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements inlMachines for Forming and Compressing Peat, of which the following isaspecification.

l The object of this invention is to provide a simple and conditionsuitable to the varied requirements 'of cooking ranges, openlire gratos,stoves, furnaces, auto, mobilesand for coking and charcoaling. i

The object4 of the invention is further to provide a machine in whichdifferent forms of peat fuel may be' produced in the saine machine bychanging some of the parts therein, said adjustable parts being capableof 'being changed byan ordinary laborer and not requiring a vskilledmechanic therefor.

The object of the invention is still further to take peat in bulkandform the same into balls, preferably o different sizes, so that thevresultant fuel, whenused in a ystove', range, or the like' will allow afree circulation of air throughout said fuel, 'thus securing as nearlyas possible perfect combustion and preventing the formation of clinkersfrom the presence of silica and aluminium. p

' The object of the invention is still further to provide a machinewhich can beoperated by one man to manufacture a large vnumber of peatballs in a 'short space of time. The peatwhencompressed by the machineof this invent/ion eliminates theneces'sity of drying said peat by thesun, asis the custom at present, or saves the expense of drying saidpeat by artificial heat, thus greatlyreducigthe expense of the peatfuel; and presenting, tlief. ,sarnefinp,a neat," compact "and practicalcommercialvformfree from. dust and loose particles and produoinga fuelgreatly superior to the commercial fuel at'ppresentmanufactured. 'Themachine -of 1 Athis iiivention',finallycompresses the peat from a bulk'form 4and also forms. the .peat into balls, cubes or any desired shape.l l Y. Theinvention `consists in-'t'he combination and ar-'rangelnentfof'par'ts' set forth in the following specification andparticularly pointed/'out in the claims thereof. Referring to thedrawings Figure l is a front eleva-l ton'o'f my'improved machineforfforming andVv com- 'v pressing shown section, ',Fig. 2 dis,

same as. viewed fromthe left of l Fig.;l,.. Fig.l 3`is a partly brokenaway and an end elevationfof the' lea't,v the same being plan View ofthe same broken away'v to'save space.

rhqn'eehanisi ty meins or hoppcralferota 15 is; a. linci5-5 ofFig. 4..-2,

x 1 L l plan section talen on .I f Like numerals refertolikepartsithroughout the sev- 'the'holderf' v I of the hopper and i hih,the feed rolls in saidY In the drawings 6 is a holder into which thepeat which is to be formed is fed. Saidholder consists of a hollowrectangular box or casing having a chamber 7 in the interior thereof.VIn this chamber 7 are located two formera 8 and 9 which aremovablelongitudinally within said chamber toward and away from a cen'- trallylocated partition 10. The partition 10H has re- I cesses 11, 1l and 12,12 upon opposite sides thereof, and'effcctive means for producing peatfuel in a form respectively.- These recesses may be of any desiredlwhich are located upon opposite shape. In the drawings they areillustrated as hemispherical in form. The former 8 is also provided inthe face adjacent to the partition 10 with a series. of recesses 13which aline with the hemispherical recesses' 1l. The former 9 isprovided with a'series ofihemiwhich aline with the hemisphericalrecesses 12 inthe partition 10.

` The partition 10 is detachably fastened to the holder 6 and theformers 8 and y9 are detachably fastened to heads 5l and 52 fast toscrews l5 and 16, respectively. The screw 15 has screw-threadedengagement with a sleeve 17, journaled torotate in one' end of theholder 6 and having a flange 18 thereon which preventsthe same from'moving longitudinally thereof` toward lthe right (Fig. l). A gear 19is' keyed tothe sleeve 17 and bears against the outside of therighthancl end of the holder '6 (Fig. l). `Said gear is still furtherfastened `to said sleeve by means of a nut 20 having .i

The mechanism for imparting a reciprocatory motion to theformer 9 issubstantially the same as that hereinbefore described for imparting areciprocatory motionfto the former 8 and consists of the screw 16,lsleeve 23, gear 24 fast to said sleeve and meshing into a pinion 25,said pinion 25 beingfastened to a shaft 26 journaled to rotate in abearing 27 upon a bracket 28 fast to the holder 6.

In the bottom of the'holder' of thev partition 10, are two holes 29 and30 (Fig. 1)

sides, respectively,

, uponv opposite sides f.

of said. partition and-above` chutes 3l and 32 fastto the bottom rofsaid holder.

` These'chutes lead,` respectively, to bags 33 and 34 which receive thepeat l.balls when the same have been formed. Holes 35 and 36 are alsoprovidedfinthe bottomy of said holder which j ,leadv into a trough 37.extending'transversely/ of said holder beneath Vthe bottom thereof.Said trough is connected byfapipe 38 toa suitable drain pipe .orreceptacle for the Water which is pressed out of the peat. A hopper 39is adjustably fastened to the holder 6 by `means of screws 40, 40 whichextend through slots 41, 41'formed in ears 42, 42integralwith saidhopper',` saidscrews having-screw-threaded engagement ywith i r placedin the position shown in rotarymovement of the hand wheel 22 the former8 p will be brought forward to- When it is desired to manufacture peatballs of large size suits ble for fuse in furnaces, the hopper 39 isfull lines (Fig. 1) and the former 8 having the large recesses 13 isemployed. When it is desired to manufacture peat balls of small sizesuitable for use in cooking ranges and other small stoves, the operatorloosens the screws 40, 40 and slides the hopper 39'from the positionshown in fulll lines (Fig. 1) to the position shown in dotted lines andthen 1 tightens the screws 40, 40, thus clamping said hopper to theholder 6.

In the interior of the hopper 39 are two feed rolls 43, 44 which arejournaled in said hopper and feed the peat which is placed in the hopper39 in bulk downwardly between the partition 10 and the former 8 or 9,according to whether the hopper is fastened to the holder in theposition illustrated in full lilies (Fig. l) or in the position shown indotted lines in said figure. The roll 43 is fastened to a shaft 45 (Fig.5) which rotates in one end of the holder 6 and projecting upwardlytherebeyond has fastened thereto a gear 46. The gear 46 meshes into agear 47 fast to the shaft 48, said shaft 48 being fastened to the feedroll 44, so that when one of said feed rolls is rotated the other willbe rotated in the opposite direction. The shaft 45 has a gear 49 looselymounted thereon which is adapted to be engaged by a rack 50 fast to thehead-51 by means oan arm 53 rigidly connected thereto. I

The gear 49 has pivotally mounted thereon pawls 54, 54' which engage aratchet 55 fast to the shaft 45. The rack 50has a space 56 thereon whichis not pro vided with teethbut which contacts with the teeth of the gear49. The roll 44 is rotated by similar mechanism to that hereinbeforedescribed by means of which the roll 43 is rotated, consisting of a gear57 loosely mounted upon the shaft 48, to which shaft the roll 44 isfastened; said gear 57 being arranged to mesh into-a rack -59 fastenedby an arm 60 to the head 52. The gear 57 has pawls 60 pivotallyV mountedthereon and 'engaging a ratchetl fast to the shaft 48.

The operation of the mechanism `hereinbefore specifically described isas follows: Assuming the parts to be inthe position illustrated in Fig.l, the operator rotates the hand wheel 22- in' the proper direction tomove the screw 15 toward the right in said figure through the pinion 21and gear 19. This will move the former 8'away from the partition 10 andafter it has moved a. certain distance the balls which have previouslybeen pressed betweensaid former and said partition will roll out of thepartition through the chute 3l and into the bag 33. During the last partof 'the retreating motionuof the former 8, the rack 50 will engagetheigear S and rotate said gear in the direction ofthe arrow a (Fig. 4),thus rotating the feed rolls 43 and 44 by means of the pawls 54, ratchet55, shaft 45 and the gears 46 and 47'. A certain amount of peat willthus be fed downwardly between the former 8 andthe partition l0 at. eachbackward movement of the former. When the operator reverses the thevposition illustrated in Fig. Land the peat which has been fed betweensaid former and partition will be squeezed into the recesses 'tionarypartition extending alinement with the recesses in the face 11 and 13 toform balls. A substantially similar action takes place when the handwheel 62, which is fastened to the shaft 26, is rotated in thepropcrdirection, therotation of said Ahand wheel rotating thel pinion 25, gear24 and thc-screw 16 to'movc the former v9 toward or away from thepartition l0, thus feedingv peat into the space in the holder betweensaid former 9 and partition 10 in a substantially similar manner .tothat hereinbe'ore described, whereby the Having thus described myinvention, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

1. In a machine for forming balls ot peut. n. holder provided with achamber adapted to receive .said peat, a stutionary partition extendingthereacross, said pnrtltlon hoving a vplurality of recesses provided intwo opposite fncc thereof, two former-s located in said chamber onopposite sides, respectively` of said partition, each of said formeraprovided with a plurality of recesses in one tncethercof in alinementwith the recesses in the adjacent thereto, mechanism to move said firstformer longitudinally of said chamber toward and away from saidpartition, independent mechanism to move said second formerlongitudinally of said chamber toward und nwny fromzsald partition, nnda hopper movubiy mounted on said holder. d

2. In a machine for forming balls of peut, a holder provided with nchamber adapted to'receive suid peut, u statherencross. said partitionhaving a plurality of recesses provided ln two opposite faces thereof,two iormers located in sold chamber on opposite sldes. respectively, ofsaldpartitlou, each ot snid formera provided with a plurnllty ofrecesses in one face thereof in or said pugtltion adjacent thereto,mechanism to move snid first former longitudinally of said chambertoward and away from said partition,

independent-mechanism to move said second' face of said partition tormerlongitudinally of sold chamber 'toward and nwnyV from said partition,ahopper movohly mounted on holder, and mechanism to into said chamberbetween 3. In a machine for vided 'with a chamber to receive snid peut,u stationary partition extending therecross, said partition having o.plurality of recesses provided in one face thereof, u. former located insaid chamber and provided with a plurality ot recesses in one facethereof in nlinement with the recesses in said partition, mechanism tomove said former longitudinally of said chamber toward and nwuy tromsaid purtltlon, n hopper, a puir of feed rolls journaled to rotate insaid hopper, and mechanism actuated by said former to rotate said rollsto feed pent from said hopper into suid chamber between said partitionand former.

'4.'In n machine for forming peut balls, a holder provided with achamber to receive said peat, a stationary partition extendingtherencross, said partition having n plurality of recesses provided inone fuce thereof. n former located in said chamber und provided withaplurnlity of recesses inone face thereof in nlinement with the recessesin said partition, mechanism to move said formar longitudinnliy of soldchamber toward and awny from said portlsaid partition and former.

tion, n hopper, n pair of, feed rolls journnled to rotate ln saidhopper, gears fast yto said feed rolls und meshing one into the other,and a rack hist to said former, sold ruck adapted to rotate one of saidgears.

5. In a machine for forming balls ot peut, a holder provided with achamber to receive said peat, a stationary partition extendingthereacross, said partition having u plurality of recesses provided intwo opposite facesthere'- of, two formel-s locnied in said chamber, onopposite sides, respectively, of said partition, each of said formeraprovided with a plurality of recesses in one fnce tbercot in saidfeedsnid pent from snld hopper forming hulls of peat, a holderproalinexnent with the recesses in the face of said partition adjacentthereto,lmechanism to move said formers toward and away from saidpartition, a hopper adjustably fastened to said holder, a pair of feedrools journaled to rotate in said hopper, and mechanism actuatedby, the`forward motion of each of said formers to rotate said rolls andfeed-peat from said hopper into said chamber between said partitiomandits respective former.

6. In a machine for forming balls of' peat, a holder provided with achamber to receive said peat, a stationary partition extendingthereacross, said partition having a plurality of recesses provided inone face thereof, a former located in said chamber and provided with iplurality of rdcesses in one lface thereof in alinement with therecesses in said partition; mechanism to move said former longitudinallyof said chamber toward and away from said partition, and achute locatedbeneath said chamber beneath a hole provided in the bottom thereof, saidformer being adapted to move entirely across and beyond said hole 'topermit said balls to pass` outwardly through said hole into said chute..

In testimony whereof I have hereunto setvmy hand in' presence of .twosubscribing witnesses. l

ROBERT S. LAWRENCE.'

Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDING, v ANNln J. DAILY.

